Drew Storen invited the St. Louis Cardinals to dinner. On the menu: meatballs. When Adam Wainwright dug the Cardinals in a 6-0 hole after two innings, all seemed swell in the nation’s capitol.
Before the game was over, Adam Wainwright already sealed the deal. The Nationals and Cardinals not were competing at any juncture during Wainwright’s stay on the mound. It was a buffet featuring several different types of meatballs.
| IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | HR | ERA | |
| Adam Wainwright | 2.1 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 7.88 |
But there is always a jerk. Jerks are everywhere looming in the shadows, in the dark spaces, behind the bushes. Jerks are the dark matter of the Baseball Universe. Nothing exists without them. They are everywhere.
Washington fans thought they had turned the tide with Thursday night’s walk-off bomb by Jayson Werth, sending the series to five games.
Storen didn’t pitch this year until July 19th, which is not an excuse, it’s just a fact. His movement looked good after the first two or three pitches, then the meatball buffet came steaming from the mound.
It was a completely unexpected outing for a pitcher who was Washington’s go-to guy. In three postseason appearances he had one save, one win, four strikeouts and a 0.33 ERA. But his fourth appearance was one Washington fans will want to erase from their collective memories.
Headed into the ninth inning with a two-run lead, Storen allowed four runs on three hits. He looked frustrated with the strike zone at times, but the strike zone was not to blame in game 5 of the NLDS. The blame was squarely on Storen. He entered with a 7-5 lead and exited with a 9-7 deficit. This is the stuff legendary Jerks are made of.
The Nationals were one strike away from advancing to the NLCS, but the last strike eluded them like a Bit-o-Honey wrapper in the wind. This game will linger in the hearts of Nationals fans. It will reignite the Stephen Strasburg debate. This game won’t die until next Spring.
An epic collapse like this is legendary—and Storen is branded as the unfortunate legend.
Stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com and MLB.com
